“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” II Corinthians 10:3-6 (KJV)

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Monday, July 27, 2015

Recently
we have been immersed in the media, headlines and debates surrounding
the U.S. Supreme Court decision to “allow” same-sex “marriage”
throughout America. I can say that I am truly saddened that our
nation has embraced such sinfulness. However, what is even more
heart-breaking and shocking is to see how many professing Christians
have been indifferent to it and even more often than not, have
supported this Court decision. Because of this, I feel compelled to
share my thoughts, as well as, form a Biblical opinion on the
subject.Although
most of America would probably disagree, I think the U.S. Supreme
court decision is absolutely absurd. You may think that that is a
strong position to hold, but I will do my best to show why this is
true. First of all, this case was really no case, because it was
built on a false premise. Those that brought the case claimed that
they were being denied the right to marry, when in fact, they had all
the right in the world to marry according to the definition of
marriage. Therefore, the case was not legitimate and should never
have even been heard by the Court. The real purpose of the lawsuit
was an attempt to re-define marriage—an institution that the
government did not create and thus cannot change. Also, we MUST
realize that even though the Supreme Court and the media have
presented the idea that this decision legalized same-sex marriage,
this is completely false. The Judicial Branch of our national
government is given NO power to make laws or to legalize anything,
that power is completely reserved to the Legislative Branch in
Congress. The scope of the power of the Court extends only to the
distinct case it decides upon and does not have lawful force beyond
that. Supreme Court Justice Scalia, in his dissenting opinion writes,
“This is a naked judicial claim to legislative — indeed,
super-legislative — power; a claim fundamentally at odds with our
system of government,” he goes on to say, “A system of government
that makes the people subordinate to a committee of nine unelected
lawyers does not deserve to be called a democracy.” This decision
only carries lawful force when the other branches of Government
comply and when we, as the governed, do not speak up and acquiesce to
this unconstitutional act.Now,
with the legal reasoning out of the way, let us ask the question,
“What does the Bible say about this?” The Bible is very clear on
this subject, in Genesis 2, marriage is first introduced by God.
After God had created Eve out of Adam's flesh, He said in verses
24-25, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and
shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. And they were
both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
This tells us that marriage is clearly instituted by God to be one
man (Adam) and one woman (Eve). This also shows that since God
authored marriage then only He has the power to change or re-define
it! We must not miss the immense significance of marriage and family,
this is the very first institution created by God because He holds
the family as the designed means for bringing new life to the earth
and thus the foundation of all society. The Bible does not only
address what marriage is to be positively, but it also addresses the
sin of man's perverse forms of it in the negative sense, throughout.
In the Old Testament, God completely destroys Sodom and Gomorrah for
the perverse homosexual sins they were committing as a community
(Genesis 18:17-19:29). Some have argued that these cities were
destroyed for there inhospitable nature to the other cities, but Jude
7, which says, “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about
them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going
after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire.” clearly shows that it was for their
sexual sins that they were destroyed. The Holiness Code in Leviticus
also plainly puts forth that homosexuality is a sin,--Lev. 18:22,
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is
abomination.” and Lev. 20:13, “If a man also lie with mankind, as
he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination:
they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
In the New Testament, Paul continually addresses this issue; Romans
1:26-27, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for
even their women did change the natural use into that which is
against nature: And
likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned
in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is
unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error
which was meet.” as well as I Cor. 6:9 and I Timothy 1:10
which all show God's abhorrence to homosexuality and anything done
outside marriage. Further, it is necessary to realize that same-sex
union explicitly violates God's first command to mankind that He
declared in Genesis 1:27-28, “So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God
said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth.” God's command here is one of procreation to fill the earth
with life. The homosexual lifestyle undermines God's first
command, the family is the only design for new life to enter the
world through the union of one man and one woman, instead, this
lifestyle promotes a non-generational view of the world that leads to
no new life and, therefore, death. Also I would like to point out
that the whole Gospel message reflects the family as the Bible refers
to salvation as the process of adoption into God's family. God's
redemptive plan also illustrates a true marriage as Jesus, the groom,
is reconciling and returning to claim His bride, the Church! A change
to marriage destroys the principles upon which the Gospel rests.So,
out of love, I warn professing Christians who have supported this
decision that they have completely gone against the principles of our
government and our Constitution. And, more importantly, have opposed
the Word of God, undermined their very belief system and are bringing
judgment upon themselves just as Sodom and Gomorrah did.And,
out of love, I charge professing Christians who have not supported
this Court decision to stop sitting around, but to get up and let
their opinion be known, to speak up and to fight for God's design in
our Country!It
is my hope and prayer that this blog post might prove to be truthful
and in some way, even though quite inadequate, be used for God's
purposes to all who read it, whether Christian or non-Christian.

Isaiah
55:6-7Seek
ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon him while He is near:
Let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and
let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to
our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

The 60s and 70s TV show “Get Smart” features a constant struggle between the secret spy organization called “CONTROL” and the international organization of evil, “KAOS”. CONTROL always defends justice while KAOS does all things for world domination or destruction through any means possible, whether right or wrong. And, of course, each episode ends with CONTROL being victorious no matter how difficult the task had been.

Now, if you are like me, you probably are thinking... “Ok, thats nice, but what does that have to do with anything?”

The plot of this old TV show appropriately illustrates the point I am presenting in this blog. That point is that there is a real and similar struggle going on in the world today. A struggle between good and evil, between justice and injustice that has been going on since almost the beginning of time. The beginning of this cosmic struggle, or more aptly called, this Cosmic War can be found in Genesis 3. After Eve ate the forbidden fruit, talking to the Serpent, God says, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Here starts the Cosmic War that wages around us this very minute. There is so much that can be gleaned about this war and the qualities of it, but I would like to discuss only a few.

First, we must realize that this is a very vicious battle as the word “enmity” implies. Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines enmity as, “The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence.” This is not simply a dislike or displeasure between the seed of the Woman and the seed of Satan, but it is actually hostile opposition comprised of active fighting between the two.

Second, this War is between two completely opposite armies. The forces of God, which promote complete order according to His design of the world that can only lead to life through HIS redemptive process, while the enemy is a force of rebels who wish to impose chaos that glorifies themselves and can only lead to death.

Third, WE are warriors in this War whether we like it or not. In Matthew 12:30, Jesus tells us, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” We have two options, either we fight with and for Christ in this war or we fight without and against Him!

Finally, this War is composed of numerous battles and only by winning each battle can we then win the War!

With this in mind, hopefully it is apparent to you that we as Christians MUST do something since mere inactivity and apathy will work against the purposes of Christ and lead to death in chaos! I think there are various things that can and should be done, but I would like to propose that we need to first and foremost, take every thought into captivity unto Christ! Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 10 that when we do this it will allow us to harness the spiritual weapons we have been given, and not only that, but will cause us to bring down the strongholds of evil! Only when we have brought ourselves into subjection and obedience to Christ can we have revenge on the disobedience of others, as this passage presents, it is important to realize that we do not wage a war with physical weapon like guns or swords, but one that is unseen, intellectual and most of all spiritual. This molds into shape a true warrior of God who has put on his proper battle gear--the girdle of Truth, the breastplate of Righteousness, boots that are the preparation of the Gospel, the shield of Faith, the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit!

How do we align our thoughts to God's? The answer is simple really...we must converse with Him daily so we know what He truly thinks. We can do this through constant study of the Bible, which is His very words, and also through continual prayer with Him. This alone is the foundation for us to step foot into the battleground of this conflict fully prepared!

So, I leave you with this, the magnitude of this War is unimaginably great, it involves every individual and all the world. Therefore, its consequences are unimaginably large...the fate of every soul hinges on it...life or death is determined by this Cosmic War!

I ask you, will YOU promote Godly order, truth and life? Will you take the steps to properly align your thoughts with God? ...or...will you find comfort in inactivity and oppose God?

Will you fight for life or death??

Ephesians 6:10-18Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.